Boston Celtics Flashback: Kendrick Perkins Trade Works Out Well For Celtics Years Later

By Rob Lunder

Mark J. Rebilas – USA TODAY Sports

The Boston Celtics made a franchise-altering decision in 2011 by shipping off fan favorite, center Kendrick Perkins, to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a blockbuster deal that saw the team acquire forward Jeff Green in return. The deal made headlines because a lot of people felt that Celtics GM Danny Ainge was stupid to trade his starting center for a forward who would come off the bench. To this day, many people feel the Celtics would have gone to the NBA Finals if they had Perkins manning the middle, instead of losing earlier in the playoffs.

The deal, at the time, is still up for debate, but fast forward to today, and it is a no brainier victory for the Celtics. Perkins might actually be the worst regular starter in the NBA today. He can’t score in the post, has no jump shot and his defense has declined at a rapid rate. The Thunder could have amnestied his contract, but instead, they chose to keep him on board, a move that still doesn’t really make a whole heck of a lot of sense.

Green is fresh off a great season for the Celtics and appears to be a guy who they can build around for the future. He will probably never make an All-Star team, but he is still a young guy who has potential. With the way the Celtics are currently constructed, there shouldn’t be any reason why he doesn’t lead the team in scoring this season.

This trade has positively affected the Celtics for the present and for the future time period.